Bullet gauge



May 4, 1954 R. wlLEs 2,677,189

- BULLET GAUGE Filed April 3. 1955 Patented May 4, 1954 UNHED STATES PATENT OFFICE BULLET GAUGE Russell Wiles, Oregon, Ill.

Application April 3, 1953, Serial No. 346,707

This invention relates to an improved bullet gauge for the scoring of shots in target shooting.

In target shooting a shot is scored as being Within the ring of higher value if the bullet touched that ring as it passed through the target. With most bullets the material of the target surrounding a bullet hole springs back after the bullet passes through the target, so that the hole left in the target is smaller than the bullet, and surrounding the bullet hole is a marginal area of indefinite width which was torn and stretched by the passage of the bullet. A bullet gauge, therefore, must have a flange which is exactly the diameter of the bullet which made the hole in atarget, and a head portion which ts snugly in a bullet hole to center the gauge in the hole. It may then be determined from the margin of the flange Whether the bullet actually touched the nearest ring of higher value as it passed through the paper.

One of the most diflicult scoring operations involves the determination of whether or not two or more bullets have passed through a single hole in the target. Such so-called doubles are quite common, particularly at ranges of fifty yards or less with a .22 caliber ride, and with previously known bullet gauges whether a particular bullet hole is a. double can be judged only by the amount of play which the head of the gauge has in the hole.

It has been standard practice to machine the heads of bullet gauges in such a way as to give them the srnoothest possible surface obtainable Without bufng, so that the gauge may slide in and out of a bullet hole readily.

All targets are made of paper, and the random orientation and slightly irregular distribution of paper fibres causes the margin of a bullet hole to tear and stretch irregularly so that a single bullet hole may look very much like a double; and in such a case the head of the bullet gauge may have enough play, or extra looseness toward one side of the hole, that the hole feels like a double with the gauge. Conversely, perfect doubles are fairly common, in which two bullets pass so perfectly through a single hole that the hole looks as though it had been formed by a single bullet, and the gauge has so little play that the hole does not feel like a double. Nevertheless, even with a perfect double the passage of the second bullet through the hole increases the tearing and stretch around the margin of the hole so that there is a physical diierence in the margin of a double as against a single, as has been demonstrated by examination with low power microscopes.

6 Claims. (Cl. 33-174) In accordance with the present invention the head of the gauge immediately adjacent the flange is roughened, as by knurling, striating, etching, or mechanical abrasion, so that the head of the gauge tends to catch in the line tears in the stretched margin of a bullet hole. The tendency of the improved gauge of this invention to catch in the target permits the ready detection of doubles because even in a perfect double the eXtra breakage and stretching of the margin of the hole caused by the second bullet permits the gauge to be withdrawn perceptibly more freely than it can be from a` hole formed by a single bullet. Conversely, a hole that looks like a double but is not may be correctly identied by the relatively large pull required to remove the gauge from the hole.

Bullet gauges are ordinarily provided with a coil spring for a handle so that variations in manipulation will be unlikely to push the gauge one way or the other as it is inserted in a hole.-

When a fairly soit spring is used the difference in the pull required to withdraw the gauge from a double or a single produces a clearly apparent difference in the stretch of the spring.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings as applied to a gauge of the general type described and claimed in my Patent 2,292,- 501 in which the gauge is inset into the bottom of a magnifying lens. ln the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a magnifying bullet gauge in a target;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view, partly in section, of a gauge made in accordance with the present invention, and having a knurled band;

Fig. 4 is a, plan view thereof; and

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing a gauge having a band of circumferential Striations.

Referring to the drawings in greater detail and referring first to 1fig. 3, a bullet gauge indicated generally at I includes a ymetal body indicated generally at Il and a magnifying lens l2. The metal body Il has a shank I3 which extends through an aperture in the magnifying lens and has a coil spring I4 coiled thereon which provides a flexible handle and which also serves to retain the lens l2 on the shank I3. If desired the spring i4 may have a small handle piece I5 extending from its outer end. The gauge portion of the bullet gauge has a flange IS which is the same diameter as the bullet with which the gauge is to be used. Thus, there is a gauge for each of the standard calibers of bullet used in target shooting. Below the ange I6 is a head l1 which has a tapered nose I il and a generally cylindrical portion I9 adjacent the flange. The cylindrical portion I 9 of the head is provided with small knurls 20 which afford a roughened band on the surface of the gauge head I7.

As seen in Fig. 2, the torn and stretched margin M of a bullet hole in a target T is bent back by the cylindrical portion I9 of the head, so that when the gauge is withdrawn from the hole the irregular edges of the margin M catch quite strongly in the roughened surface provided by the knurls 29. While the roughened band in Fig. 3 is knurled, it may also be formed by acid etching, sand blasting, or any other suitable means for providing a generally uniformly roughened surface. Preferably the roughened band embraces the entire length of the cylindrical portion I9 of the head, so that a person using the gauge will have a gcod chance to feel the amount of engagement between the gauge and the margin of the bullet hole as the gauge is withdrawn. The roughened band must be at least as wide as the stretched margin M of the bullet hole, so that the rearwardly bent ends of the paper may catch in the rough surface.

The head I? of the gauge is of appropriate diameter to fit snugly in a single bullet hole, so that the engagement between the margin of the hole and the head of the gauge is quite pronounced. The depth of the cuts forming the knurls 2:3 should not be greater than about .001 inch because of the close tolerance required on the diameter of the cylindrical portion I9 of the head.

If the coil spring Ill is fairly soft the stretch of the spring permits the person using the gauge to judge the relative engagement of the gauge and the margin of the bullet hole at least in part by observing the stretch of the spring.

The device shown in Fig. is the same in its basic structure as that shown in Fig. 3, consisting generally of a metal body portion 2 I, a magnifying lens 22, a spring 2li providing a handle, a flange 26, and a head 2l' having a cylindrical portion 2t* provided with a series of closely spaced, generally parallel circumferential striations 39 which form a roughened band. The metal body portion 2l of a bullet gauge is normally formed by turning on a lathe, and the striations 39 may be readily provided by machining a band of the desired width in such a way as to leave machine marks in the cylindrical portion 29, the remaindei of the head 2i being so machined as to give it a smooth surface.

The foregoing detailed description is given for clearness of understanding only and no unnecessary limitations are to be understood therefrom, as some modifications will be obvious to those skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. A bullet gauge for gauging the scoring of shots in a target comprising: a handle portion; and a gauge portion on said handle portion having a flange of bullet diameter and a head to t snugly in a single bullet hole for centering the gauge portion therein, said head having its surface roughened adjacent the ange to catch in the torn and stretched margin of a bullet hole in a target.

2. The device of claim 1 in which the head of the gauge portion has a tapered nose and a cylindrical centering portion of substantial length adjacent the ange, and the entire cylindrical portion is roughened.

3. The device of claim 1 in which the head of the gauge portion is provided with a knul-led band adjacent the flange.

4. The device of claim 1 in which the head of the gauge portion is provided with a plurality of ine, generally circumferential striations adjacent the flange.

5. A bullet gauge for gauging the scoring of shots in a target comprising: a handle portion formed from a relatively soft coil spring; and a gauge portion on said handle portion having a flange of bullet diameter and a head to t snugly in a single bullet hole for centering the gauge portion therein, said head having its surface rcughened adjacent the ila-nge to catch in the torn and stretched margin of a bullet hole in a target.

6. A bullet gauge for gauging the scoring of shots in a target comprising: a handle portion; and a gauge portion on said handle portion having a ange of bullet diameter and a head to t snugly in a single bullet hole for centering the gauge portion therein, said head having its surface roughened adjacent the ange to catch in the torn and stretched margin of a bullet hole in a target, the roughened area being at least as wide as the rearward projection of said torn and stretched margin.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,458,961 Williams June 19, 1923 2,117,317 Hakenjos May 17, 1938 2,292,501 Wiles, Jr., Aug. 11, 1942 

